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RE: [RC] eating on the trail - Susan & Jerry Milam

I have to push my gelding's head down to remind him to eat. He's so focused
on the trail and horses he needs to catch, it's hard to get him to eat and
relax on trail. Our other guys are very relaxed and eat when we stop almost
automatically. We train with other endurance people so they don't mind this
behavior, but your people may object to it. My guess is that the people you
ride with don't average a speed much more that 4-5 MPH for any distance at
all. Have them do a 10 mile ride with you at an average of 6MPH or better
and see what their opinion of traveling over distance is after that. You
must do about 6MPH average to complete any LD or longer to make up for your
vet timed holds.

A couple friends and I hosted a newbie endurance clinic last summer at a
local SP. These guys were the same as your friends, thought they traveled at
a good pace and didn't really give much thought about what endurnace really
does demand of horse and rider. We had about 8 riders show up for the clinic
and only did an 8 mile loop and didn't even average 6MPH. These guys were
beat afterwards and had a new respect for what endurance riders go through.

Just loosen your reins and allow your horse to eat. If he doesn't
understand, get off and lead him to graze. I have a rein keeper that hooks
to the saddle and loops around the reins, so when I let go of the rein, the
keeper holds onto it, so I can relax while they are grazing. Marvelous
invention for sure. The horse enjoys the freedom with his head too. Of
course you have to trust the horse to really benefit from the rein keeper:)

In His Hands,
Susan, Fly Bye & Dandy

"All you have to decide is what to do with the time you are given." 
Gandalf the Grey of Lord of the Rings 

-----Original Message-----
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jennifer Adam
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 7:32 AM
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [RC] eating on the trail

Well, a while back I said I would take a break from asking dumb newbie
questions, but I can't - there's just too much I want to know! Sorry - and
thanks for your patience. Here's another stupid question - I had a
discussion with some horse people in my neighborhood last night about eating
on the trail. Now, their main interest is western pleasure and halter - they
don't see the big deal about endurance because they think any horse that can
do a 10 mile trail can also do 100 - just takes more time (:-/. Two of them
never ever let their horses snatch a bite once they have a halter on. The
other two let them graze in halter, but once they saddle up the horses
aren't allowed to eat at all. They were arguing that letting a horse snatch
bites takes away his focus and keeps him from concentrating on his rider. I
will admit - I've been on trail horses (those dude ranch kinds) that were so
busy grabbing mouthfuls they hardly wanted to move down the trail. It can be
an annoying habit, but I want my mare to learn how to eat on the go, how to
eat quick when she needs to. So, my question is - how do I keep her
concentration and let her eat when she needs to? How do you all handle it?
Do you give a cue (lengthen the reins, whatever) to let your horses know
it's okay to eat? Or do they just like to go so much that they automatically
eat on the run? What is the right way to teach a horse when it's appropriate
to eat and when they need to concentrate on moving out? I don't want to
screw up my mare by doing something wrong. Thanks - Clueless and Curious,
Jen

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Replies
[RC] eating on the trail, Jennifer Adam